Liberal Party of Canada Leader Justin Trudeau energized a crowd of Liberals and the curious last night in Edmonton. Below: His father, Pierre Trudeau, circa 1968; the chip off the old block.

I’m pretty sure it was in the spring of 1968 that I heard Pierre Trudeau speak in Victoria’s Beacon Hill Park. I think it was March ’68, as a matter of fact, right before the convention that made him leader of the Liberal Party and prime minister of Canada.

I can tell you this for sure, it was a beautiful day, the sun was warm, there was a (Read more…)

It is encouraging to read commonsense and compassionate words from the mainstream media. The Victoria Times Colonist Editorial Department is one of the most progressive and responsible in the country. Well done.

In 2008, the B.C. Supreme Court ruled the bylaw deprived the homeless of life, liberty and security in violation of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Photograph By ADRIAN LAM

People who live near Kings Park in Fernwood are unhappy that the park is being used as a campground by homeless people. They have every right to be upset — camping where camping was not intended can (Read more…)

It’s even creepier than you know, Simon..yesterday, our NDP politicians here in BC were speaking to the media after a meeting with the Victoria, BC TFWs that will “not be getting their work permits renewed or be able to apply for permanent status” now that their Golden Arches jobs will be over as soon as their current permits expire. Not only have they been working at these low-paying jobs, but they were obviously lied to about gaining status as immigrants, and so far it has been shown that their permits were simply rubber-stamped, (Read more…)

More than 200 community living workers in the Kootenays and Salmon Arm to go on strike starting on Thursday, January 31. by CUPE British Columbia | Jan. 30, 2013: VANCOUVER, B.C. – Community Living workers who support people with developmental disabilities at agencies in Trail, Castlegar, Creston, and Salmon Arm will be on strike on Thursday, January 31. READ MORE

“What I want to be able to do is get better research and support and make it available to backbenchers who don’t get much help from their own parties. ‘There are lots of MPs in a parliamentary committee hearing, with an expert witness giving evidence, who have their chance to ask a question but they basically tread water. They’ve got nothing useful to say; the reason for that is they don’t have the resources to know the issue very well, they don’t

The media love a good narrative, and once they decide on a narrative they’ll do anything to force events into their box, whether the events fit inside that box. Right now, one of their favourite narratives is that the Liberal Party is dying. Sadly for them, we refuse to go.

They said our fundraising would dry up; it hasn’t. They said we’d stay down in the polls; not lately we haven’t. They said no one would run for our leadership; there’s more potential contenders than you can shake a good-sized stick at. They said it will be a coronation; the (Read more…)

New Democrat Murray Rankin won the by-election in Victoria last night but only just. With the powerful and experienced federal and provincial NDP machines churning away in the previously New Democrat riding, Rankin was all but pre-ordained … . . . → Read More: The Disaffected Lib: Orange Won but the Real Winner was Green

What an exciting day to be a political addict in Canada. Who says Canadian politics is boring? People who aren’t paying attention, that’s who. At least four exciting things happened yesterday. Yes, four.

First, the Mayor of Toronto, Rob Ford, was found in violation of the Conflict of Interest act and will be removed from office. Essentially, he voted on something he really shouldn’t have and clearly took pride in not knowing how the process of government works as a defense. A process which he has been involved in for 15 years. Fascinating.

What an exciting day to be a political addict in Canada. Who says Canadian politics is boring? People who aren’t paying attention, that’s who. At least four exciting things happened yesterday. Yes, four.

First, the Mayor of Toronto, Rob Ford, was found in violation of the Conflict of Interest act and will be removed from office. Essentially, he voted on something he really shouldn’t have and clearly took pride in not knowing how the process of government works as a defense. A process which he has been involved in for 15 years. Fascinating.

Alice offers up the definitive analysis of last night’s federal by-elections, and I won’t go over too much of the same territory. But I’ll quickly add a few observations for each party – as everybody looks to have some reason for concern.And yes, I inc… . . . → Read More: Accidental Deliberations: On post-mortems

Well, the polls are closed in Victoria, Calgary, and Durham, ON so it’s time for some results. Since the voters of Durham were foolish enough to stick with Oda after her first waves of scandal until she burned out from too much $16 orange juice, they obviously stuck with the party of election fraud, and [...] . . . → Read More: Saskboy’s Abandoned Stuff: By-election Monday; Plan to Fix Democracy

Voters in Durham, Victoria, and Calgary Centre head to the polls tonight in what were originally pegged as three “safe” by-elections. The story appears to be following the script in Durham and Victoria but, unexpectedly, Calgary Centre has become the riding to watch. When Lee Richardson resigned from Parliament last spring, no one could have fathomed the type of bizarro world we’d find ourselves in, with the Tories on the ropes, the Greens attacking the Liberals, and two-year old comments … → . . . → Read More: Calgary Grit: Battleground Calgary Centre

A quick shout out here to a friend in Victoria, Liberal candidate Paul Summerville, who is exactly the type of person we need in the House of Commons. I hope everyone in Victoria gets to meet him. They’ve hit the ground running…

Here is his nomination statement, “Our Campaign,” to give a sense of Paul’s approach to politics: The Liberal point of view is that ‘we’re all in this together’ is much better than ‘you’re on your own’ and that liberalism is not an ideology, it is not a book of campaign promises, liberalism is a movement

Today (September 26), the Communications Energy and Paperworkers Union (CEP), the Canadian Autoworkers Union (CAW), the BC Teachers’ Federation, the United Fishermen and Allied Workers’ Union-CAW, and the Canadian Union of Public Employees BC (CUPE BC) have all added their names to the growing list endorsing the October 22 Defend Our Coast mass sit-in against [...]

- Stephen Kimber makes the case for a financial transactions tax in Atlantic Business: (W)hat can supposedly sovereign nations do when individual governments seem powerless in the face of rampant globalization and footloose capital?

Well, they could get together to create an international public counter-balance to out-of-whack corporate power and – at the least – begin to mitigate some of the worst effects of unfettered globalization.

Agreeing to a locally adopted, globally implemented financial transactions tax would be a smart start.

CANADIAN ANARCHIST MOVEMENT:THE VICTORIA ANARCHIST BOOKFAIR: Fall rolls around once more, and, as the leaves are turning colour the colourful Victoria Anarchist Bookfair will be blowing into town out there on the west coast. Here’s the details: Victoria Anarchist Bookfair Call for Participation ***** 1. Victoria Anarchist Bookfair Dates & Contacts September 8th and 9th, 2012 Fernwood NRG Community Hall 1240 Gladstone Ave, Victoria, BC, Lekwungen Territory We are pleased to announce the seventh annual Victoria Anarchist Bookfair, located on unceded Lekwungen Territory in Victoria, British Columbia. The Bookfair is for anarchists and non-anarchists, with participants from all (Read more…) . . . → Read More: Molly’sBlog: Molly’sBlog 2012-05-27 18:29:00